Etymology
1. 1534, from M.Fr.
masque "covering to hide or guard the face," from It.
maschera, from M.L.
masca "mask, specter, nightmare," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Ar.
maskhara "buffoon," from
sakhira "to ridicule." Or via Prov.
mascarar, Catalan
mascarar, O.Fr.
mascurer "to black (the face)," perhaps from a Gmc. source akin to Eng.
mesh (q.v.). But cf. Occitan
mascara "to blacken, darken," derived from
mask- "black," which is held to be from a pre-I.E. language, and Old Occitan
masco "witch," surviving in dialects; in Beziers it means "dark cloud before the rain comes." [See Walther von Wartburg,
"Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung galloromanischen sprachschatzes"] The verb meaning "to wear a mask" is from 1588; in the extended sense of "disguise," is attested from 1847.
Masking tape first recorded 1936; so called because it is used to block out certain surfaces before painting.
2. Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā, from which English mesh and mask (“mesh”) (below at Etymology 2) are inherited. Doublet of mascara, masque, and mesh.
3. Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.
Verbs referencing "mask"
Finnish with old forms
maskata, Welsh
macsu.